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By 

WALLACE. W 
KIRKLAND 


























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Copiglitlf._ ! ■ 1 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 







The first wolf, gorged with food, failed to dodgt 
the lightning blow of her forefoot. 
















SHENSHOO 

THE STORY OF A MOOSE 


By 

WALLACE W. KIRKLAND 

» » 

Drawings by 

DON NELSON 

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* 1 
.» 1 * 


THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO 

1930 


I.C. 















"PZio 

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Copyright, 1930, by 

THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

Chicago 


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Printed in United States of America 


©CIA 29102 

OCT -6 1930 

I 



CONTENTS 


I The Wolves Find Shenshoo 7 

Shenshoo’s mother fights the wolves and 
avenges the death of Shenshoo s brother. 

II Shenshoo Meets His Sister 12 

Shenshoo is taught to \eep in hiding—a long 
journey—the meeting with his sister. 

III Shenshoo Meets Man 21 

Shenshoo is tied to a tree—the wolves arrive in 
the darkness—Shenshoo is freed. 

IV Shenshoo Strikes Out for Himself 28 

Shenshoo’s mother is shot—he escapes. 

V Shenshoo Grows His First Horns 37 

Shenshoo is lonely—he grows his first horns — 
he does battle with another moose. 

VI Shenshoo is Ridden 42 

Shenshoo is caught while swimming. 

VII A Strange Call 48 

Shenshoo fights a friend—he wins a mate—a 
whistling bullet and a wound. 

VIII The Winter of Little Snow 53 

Shenshoo narrowly escapes the wolves . 

IX Shenshoo's Last Adventure 58 

Man proves too wise for Shenshoo—he gives up 
his life to Science . 







ft 


ft 


























« » 










CHAPTER I 


THE WOLVES FIND SHENSHOO 



( HE fighting of wolves was the first sound 


X picked up by the large, soft ears of Shen- 
shoo, the moose calf. It came from two of 
these huge, gray animals quarreling over the 
remains of Shenshoo’s twin brother. 

His mother had tramped many miles before 
selecting the spot which was to be his birth¬ 
place. It was a dense clump of spruce grow¬ 
ing close against the sheltering base of a tall, 
overhanging rock cliff, on the shores of an ice¬ 
bound lake in the wilds of northern Canada. 
The closely interwoven branches of the ever¬ 
greens made an almost water-proof shelter, 
and, being on the south side of the cliff, it was 
protected from the cold winds which still blew 
from the snow covered fields to the north. 

She had spent weeks in the vicinity before 
deciding, and at no time had she been dis- 




8 


SHENSHOO 



turbed. Never once had the lake winds car¬ 
ried to her wide nostrils the scent dreaded above 
all others—the scent of man. No wolf had 
howled to disturb her peace as she fed upon 
the green shoots of birch and poplar, which 
everywhere were announcing that spring was 
not far distant. Her animal instincts told her 
that here indeed was the ideal place for the 
birth of her young. 

Shenshoo’s twin had been born just before 
daylight. With mother love the cow moose 
licked the coarse hair on the steaming young 
body of the calf panting there on the carpet 
of moss by her side. Anxiously she waited the 
coming of Shenshoo. 

Suddenly, the, stillness of the dawn was 
broken by the cry of wolves. It was not the 
long drawn out howl of the lone wolf, but 
the eager yelping of wolves which have smelled 
food. The hair on the back of the cow bristled 
as she listened to the fearsome sound. The 
scent of her new-born calf had been blown 
across the bay to be picked up by a pair of 
timber wolves hunting along the ridge. 


THE WOLVES FIND SHENSHOO 9 

Pointing their keen noses in the air the hun¬ 
gry animals quickly discerned the direction 
from which the smell of food was coming. 
Skirting the bay they followed the shore and 
soon approached the clump of spruce. The 
frantic mother was unable to protect her first 
born. At the arrival of the wolves the weak 
little fellow scrambled to his scraggly legs. 
Much too frightened to heed the warning 
sounds made by his mother, he staggered out 
of the sheltering trees, only to be quickly dis¬ 
patched by the two marauders. 

And then Shenshoo was born. 

Confident at the ease with which they had 
captured the first calf the wolves returned. 
But now, instead of a helpless cow moose giv¬ 
ing birth to a calf under a tree, they were met 
in the open by an avalanche of fury—a mother 
robbed of her young. Shenshoo was wriggling 
on the ground still too weak to stand, but his 
mother rushed to meet the attackers. The first 
wolf, careless from success, and gorged with 
food, failed to dodge the lightning blow of her 
fore foot. This cloven-edged weapon, with 


10 


SHENSHOO 


hundreds of pounds behind it, speeded with 
the rage of a deprived mother, struck behind 
the shoulder blades and crushed him to earth. 
Again and again those terrific hoofs descended. 
The cry of the wolf—a snarl at first—changed 
to a whine of pain, and then was stilled as his 
mangled body was trampled into a shapeless 
and lifeless mass. 

The second wolf, sensing the danger in front, 
circled to attack from the rear. Sinking his 
fangs into the tendon of the moose’s hind leg 
he hung on. He was using the age old method 
of the wolf pack for bringing a running animal 
to earth. But now he was alone, and instead 
of attacking an animal fleeing with fear, he 
was battling one mad with rage, and fighting 
to protect her young. Kicking out viciously, 
and at the same time pivoting quickly, the 
moose broke the grip of the wolf and flung him 
far from her. He landed with a thud on his 
side, regained his feet in an instant, and came 
at her again. With bared teeth he sprang 
straight for her shaggy throat. He missed and 
his open jaws collided with the hard bone of 



V 


THE WOLVES FIND SHENSHOO 


ii 


her monstrous head. The impact stunned the 
wolf and he fell to the ground on his back, his 
feet clawing the empty air. Before he could 
rise the terrible hoofs of the maddened moose 
had done their work, and the life of Shenshoo 
was saved. 














CHAPTER II 


SHENSHOO MEETS HIS SISTER 

S HENSHOO remained for three days se¬ 
curely hidden in the dark spruce thicket in 
which he was born. He saw his mother only 
at feeding time, and then she had a curious 
way of coming to him. So silently did she ap¬ 
proach that he was never aware of her presence 
until her dark body suddenly loomed up a few 
yards away from his shelter. Even then she 
would not begin feeding him until she had as¬ 
sured herself, by walking back and forth a num¬ 
ber of times and sniffing the air, that there were 
no enemies about. And so cleverly did she 
feed him that an observer watching the process 
would never have guessed that the dark green 
clump of brush in which she stood so calmly 
chewing her cud, was really a screen hiding a 
baby moose eating his dinner. 

Once she stayed away an unusually long 


12 


SHENSHOO MEETS HIS SISTER 


i3 


time and Shenshoo became terribly hungry. 
When at last he saw her outside his barrier he 
didn’t wait but rushed out and met her in the 
open with a low squeal of delight. Uttering 
a grunt of rebuke she came right at him and 
with a vicious butt knocked him off his feet. 
Surprised he got up and started towards her 
whimpering, but was quickly made to under¬ 
stand, by a series of blows, that never was he 
to come out to meet his mother. Even though 
famished, he must remain concealed until 
she found it safe to approach him. 

The days passed rapidly for Shenshoo. He 
would take long naps between feeding times, 
his long legs tucked under his body to keep 
them warm. A pair of flying squirrels often 
awakened him by scurrying along the rock 
ledges above and sending down a shower of 
loose snow. Once, as he slept, a shrill scream 
starded him. He flung his head up just in 
time to see a Whiskey Jack—the teasing Blue 
Jay of the north woods—go fluttering off 
through the branches. 

On the morning of the third day, after feed- 


M 


SHENSHOO 


ing him, his mother started along the shore and 
called to him to follow. But remembering his 
former lesson he was afraid to venture out into 
the light. She called him a second time, and 
still he refused to move. Quickly retracing her 
steps, she got behind him and roughly pushed 
him out of his snug retreat. Then, going 
ahead, she called him again, and he trotted 
along after her. His infant days were over. 

It was really a very clumsy looking young¬ 
ster who jogged along behind his mother 
through the Canadian woods that April morn¬ 
ing. The ground was still covered with snow, 
and Shenshoo reached down to taste it. He 
was surprised to find, however, that his mouth 
couldn’t touch the snow because his front feet 
were too long. It was only by kneeling that 
he was able to lick the cool white stuff. 

Heading away from the shore, mother and 
son started up the side of a steep hill, densely 
covered with a growth of jack pine, and 
climbed over the ridge. They were heading 
north. Shenshoo found the traveling very tir¬ 
ing at first and often lay down to rest. When 



It was a clumsy looking youngster who jogged 
behind his mother through the Canadian woods. 


IS 


\ 


















































SHENSHOO MEETS HIS SISTER 17 

he stopped his mother waited for him, but as 
soon as she thought he had rested long enough, 
she pushed him with her nose and made him 
get up. She seemed to have in mind some 
definite goal which she was anxious to reach. 

When Shenshoo got hungry a queer little 
bleat came up in his throat and at the sound 
his mother would stand still while he pushed 
and butted at her udder for milk. The cow, 
too, fed along the way. She would select a 
young poplar sapling, straddle it with her front 
legs and hold it down with her chest while 
she ate buds and tender branches. Her long 
over-hanging upper lip was useful for reach¬ 
ing and grasping this food. 

These animals get their name from their 
manner of eating. Moose is an Indian word 
which means “wood-eater.” 

Once, while resting, Shenshoo heard a dry 
rustling noise coming from under the low over¬ 
hanging boughs of a balsam tree. Curious, he 
got up at once to investigate. Out from the 
tree came a queer shaped animal, ambling 
toward him. Shenshoo stuck his muzzle for- 





18 SHENSHOO 

ward in a friendly greeting, but jerked it back 
with a cry of pain, as the porcupine—for that’s 
what it was—struck with its tail and filled the 
poor calf’s nose and lips with a score of sharp, 
fiery quills. 

He ran bleating to his mother, but she was 
powerless to help him. By rubbing against 
the rough bark of trees he removed some of 
the quills, but many of them stayed in for days 
until they festered out. They were very pain¬ 
ful, and taught him with every twinge of pain, 
that porcupines are privileged animals, that 
they can wander through the woods whither 
they will and remain unmolested. 

By traveling constantly and resting often a 
great many miles were covered even at the 
slow pace that the calf was able to make. On 
the evening of the second day, just as the sun 
was setting, they entered a meadow at the end 
of a deep bay. Here the mother slackened her 
gait. This was the feeding ground she had left 
when about to give birth to her calves, and this 
was the spot she had been heading for during 
the past two days. 


SHENSHOO MEETS HIS SISTER 


19 


They were halfway across the meadow when 
Shenshoo heard a grunt very much like his 
mother’s but coming from the woods to the 
left of him. He stopped and stood gazing 
in the direction of the sound. Out of the gather¬ 
ing darkness a big form rushed at him. He 
started to run but was quickly overtaken, and 
before he knew it he was on his back, squeal¬ 
ing with fright. His mother ran back and was 
just in time to save him from complete annihil¬ 
ation. With many grunts and pushes she got 
his adversary away from him and Shenshoo 
scrambled to his feet. Through frightened 
eyes he saw it was another moose, not nearly 
as large as his mother but greatly resembling 
her nevertheless. 

It was his older sister, born the year before 
and deserted by his mother at the time of Shen- 
shoo’s birth. Again the animal started towards 
him. Shenshoo awaited trembling. Instead 
of attacking, however, the newcomer sniffed 
him in a friendly manner and, as she caressed 
him she seemed to say, “I am sorry for my 
roughness. I didn’t know at the time that you 



20 


SHENSHOO 


were one of the family.” Having made this 
apology she turned away and walked into the 
woods alone. 



CHAPTER III 


SHENSHOO MEETS MAN 


E ARLY in May a change came over the 
north country. The days became warm¬ 
er and a constant fall of rain washed away the 
softening snow. One night the wind began 
blowing from the south. For two days it blew 
steadily and then Shenshoo heard a new sound, 
a roaring, crashing noise as though great rocks 
were being ground together by some giant 
crusher. It was the arrival of spring, and the 
waves of the lake were dashing tons of ice to 
pieces upon the rocky shore—ice that had been 
holding them captive in a cold blue prison all 
winter long. 

The morning after the ice went out Shen¬ 
shoo had a novel experience. His mother had 
gone down to the lake very early, and while he 
stood whimpering on the shore, she had waded 
out until only her head was visible. She seemed 






22 


SHENSHOO 


to enjoy the feel of the cold water. Then she 
came out dripping and whined for Shenshoo to 
go in too, but he was terrified at the thought. 
She maneuvered till she got him between her 
and the water. Then she ran at him and 
pushed him into the lake. Under the water 
he went and came up choking. When he 
started to scramble out his mother, standing 
on the bank, kept him in. He floundered 
around for a few minutes and then discovered 
that he too liked the water. This was a happy 
discovery, because from now on most of his 
time during the summer months would be 
spent in the lakes and muskegs which dotted 
that country. 

With the coming of June great swarms of 
insects hatched out of the swamps and stag¬ 
nant pools. For weeks millions of these tiny 
pests circled day and night about Shenshoo and 
his mother. They crawled into their eyes, and 
ears, and nose, and burrowed down to the roots 
of their coarse hair to gorge themselves on ani¬ 
mal blood. 

Shenshoo, like all other moose, had no tail 


SHENSHOO MEETS MAN 


23 


with which he could brush off these tormentors. 
He stamped his feet and waved his head wildly 
about in vain. They still persisted in annoying 
him. His only relief came when he submerged 
himself in the water, and even then the swarms 
would settle on the tip of his nose, just show¬ 
ing above the water, and compel him to dip 
that under every few minutes. 

It was while he and his mother were lying 
in a muskeg late one afternoon, protecting 
themselves from the insects, that a calamity 
nearly overtook Shenshoo. He first knew that 
something was wrong when his mother gave 
a startled grunt, and headed towards shore, 
plunging through the heavy mud. Shenshoo 
wheeled to follow her and saw coming towards 
him over the surface of the muskeg a strange 
object. It was a canoe with two boys in it, and 
they were yelling like Indians. Shenshoo could 
make no speed through the clinging mud, and 
his mother, seeing his plight, came back to 
him. He put his two front feet on her broad 
back, and together they worked their way slow¬ 
ly toward the shore. 







*4 


SHENSHOO 


Progress was slow and the canoe quickly 
caught up to them. The boy in the bqw waved 
his arms in the air and the loop of a rope fell 
about Shenshoo’s neck. He tried to shake it 
off but couldn’t. The canoe followed him to 
shore. His mother scrambled up the bank and 
plunged into the forest. Shenshoo started after 
her but was jerked off his feet as the rope pulled 
taut. In agony he gave a strangled bleat for 
his mother. Never had she deserted him be¬ 
fore when he needed help, but this time, al¬ 
though he could hear her thrashing about in 
the woods, she did not come to his aid. There 
was one enemy his mother dared not face, and 
she had gotten the scent of that enemy—man. 
With a cry of despair Shenshoo got to his feet 
and lunged forward again, but the rope tight¬ 
ened, and he fell gasping for air. His eyes 
bulged from their sockets, his tongue hung 
out, and then everything went black. 

He came to a few minutes later. The rope 
around his neck had been loosened and once 
again he was able to breathe. He struggled to 
rise but his feet had been tied together and his 






SHENSHOO MEETS MAN 


*5 


efforts were futile. The boys tried to carry him 
to their canoe, but he was two months old now 
and was much too heavy. After a number of 
attempts to move him they gave up, and tying 
the end of the rope to a pine stump got in their 
canoe and paddled away, leaving the poor calf 
helpless on the shore. 

As soon as the canoe was out of sight, Shen- 
shoo’s mother returned and began comforting 
him. But he was in a sad plight. Unable to 
stand he could get no food, and the rope about 
his ankles was very painful. 

Darkness came, and with it came fear. The 
fear of an animal helpless at night in the north 
woods. Instinct told his mother that before 
many hours the plight of her calf would be 
discovered by the all-seeing eyes of some prowl¬ 
ing timber wolf. Then again would be fought 
a battle for his life, such as the one on the day 
he was born. 

She had not long to wait. 

To her ears was borne the hunting cry of a 
wolf. Far away it seemed at first—the long 
low whine—but nearer and nearer it came. 



26 


SHENSHOO 


Shenshoo strained at the ropes which bound 
him. Then into his circle of vision slunk a 
gray form, which sat on its haunches a few 
feet away. It seemed sure of its prey and con¬ 
tent to wait. Once it turned its nose toward 
the stars, and the hills vibrated with the blood¬ 
curdling howl of a wolf calling for assistance. 
The plea was heard and within an hour two 
more wolves sat watching the helpless moose. 
The mother charged at them occasionally, but 
they lightly stepped aside and she swept by 
them clumsily. 

The wolves seemed to be waiting for some 
signal before attacking. With long, red 
tongues they constantly licked their watering 
mouths. Suddenly all three wolves stood up, 
ears and noses alert, then, after moving about 
uneasily, faded away into the darkness. 

As they disappeared a loud whoop came 
across the water, and the rhythmic dip of a 
paddle was heard. The bow of a canoe pushed 
into the bank, a bright light flashed in Shen- 
shoo’s eyes, and the dreaded scent of man again 
filled his nostrils. With a hunting knife a boy 



SHENSHOO MEETS MAN 


*7 


cut the ropes that bound the moose, and stiffly 
he got to his feet and limped away to join his 
mother in the woods. 









CHAPTER IV 


SHENSHOO STRIKES OUT FOR 
HIMSELF 

B Y THE time summer had gone, and the 
first frost’s warning of the approach of 
winter had come, Shenshoo had grown into 
quite a big calf. 

He was depending little now upon his 
mother’s supply of milk. He had learned to 
browse the way she did, breasting down the 
young saplings and feeding upon the branches. 
His mother had also taught him to find the 
succulent roots of the water lily, growing in 
the mud below the surface of the sheltered 
bays. Wading out, he submerged his head for 
minutes at a time, and pushed his nose along 
the soft bottom until he located one of the big 
roots. Tearing it loose he brought it to the 
surface and ate it. One could always tell where 
Shenshoo had been feeding by the remnants 



SHENSHOO STRIKES OUT FOR HIMSELF 29 


of these water lily meals which littered the 
surface long after he had gone. 

September came and the woods were a mass 
of color. The leaves of the moose woods were 
a bright red; those of the poplar and birch a 
brilliant yellow; and the willows, by the 
edge of the lakes and streams, a deep brown. 
Squirrels, who had spent most of the summer 
months chasing each other from tree to tree 
with much chattering, began the serious busi¬ 
ness now of gathering nuts and pine cones for 
their winter supply of food. 

Hanging to the swaying ends of branches 
on the tall pine trees, one of these little fellows 
cut the cones off, and when a dozen or more 
had clattered to the rocks below, the squirrel 
raced down the rough trunk, gathered them 
up and gnawed the covering away from the 
tiny seeds. These seeds he deposited in his 
cheeks, until his jowls swelled out like a boy 
with mumps. When his mouth could hold no 
more he hurried off and hid them in his store¬ 
house under a big boulder. 

With the coming of frost the flies and 



3° 


SHENSHOO 


mosquitoes disappeared, and life became more 
pleasant for the moose and other animals of 
the north woods. A marked change, too, came 
over Shenshoo’s mother. She got very restless 
and was not satisfied to remain around the 
lakes where they had spent the summer. She 
took long tramps across country, covering 
twenty and thirty miles in a day. 

One evening just about sunset, mother and 
calf were standing in a thicket on the shore of 
a small lake. They had traveled many miles 
since sunrise, and Shenshoo was enjoying the 
rest in the gathering darkness. Suddenly from 
across the lake came a low “Oh—o—o—wah.” 
His mother pricked up her ears at the sound. 
Again came the queer call and Shenshoo shiv¬ 
ered as his mother began answering. Droning 
out a long “Oo,” in a very high pitch, she 
followed it with a long drawn out “Wau,” and 
sank an octave to end her answer in a low 
gutteral “Ach.” 

The last syllable had scarcely been uttered 
when a challenging “Wau—wau—wau,” 
answered her. Then all was silent again. 


SHENSHOO STRIKES OUT FOR HIMSELF 31 


Shenshoo lay down to rest for the night but 
his mother remained standing. He was awak¬ 
ened from a doze by a low “Waw,” just outside 
the thicket, and there he saw a large bull 
standing outlined against the lake. Uttering 
a low whine his mother pushed out to meet 
the stranger. Shenshoo scrambled to his feet 
and started to follow, but was quickly made 
to understand, by his mother, that he was not 
wanted. He felt very disconsolate as she left 
him and wandered off along the shore with her 
new found mate. 

It was nearly a week before Shenshoo saw 
his mother again, and then they resumed their 
former companionship, and started the winter 
together. 

Late in October, fringes of ice began to 
gather on the edges of the bays and smaller 
lakes. The moose spent very little time in the 
water now. Shenshoo’s mother had found a 
new pasture that was ideal for the winter. It 
was a large sloping plain, thickly wooded with 
birch and poplar, and surrounded by high hills, 
which protected it from the biting winds 




3 2 


SHENSHOO 


blowing from the north. At one end of the 
pasture there was a swampy meadow, and a 
little creek ran out of this and down through 
a narrow valley. A colony of beavers had 
dammed this creek and made a small lake. 
The noise of the falling trees cut by these busy 
animals for their winter food used to startle 
Shenshoo, but he soon became used to it. With 
his mother he waded out into the beaver pond 
to drink, and they usually stood together right 
near the large round beaver house. Often, as 
the moose stood there, the quiet of the pond 
would be shattered as some playful beaver 
swam to the surface and smacked it with his 
flat tail. 

In selecting this as the ideal place for the 
winter the moose were mistaken. Early that 
spring the colony of beavers had been dis¬ 
covered by a trapper looking for new territory, 
and already he was on his way from the distant 
town to set traps in the beaver house. 

The first intimation that the moose had of 
danger was the sound of a rifle shot. They 
were both drinking beside the beaver house. 



They were both drinking beside the beaver house 
when the sound of a rifle shot echoed from the hills. 


33 


























SHENSHOO STRIKES OUT FOR HIMSELF 35 


As the echoes of the shot vibrated from the hills, 
Shenshoo’s mother lurched towards him and 
fell on her side. He turned and splashed out 
of the water. His mother arose slowly and 
followed. He waited an instant on the edge 
of the pond, and saw that she was hobbling 
on three legs for one of her hind ones was 
hanging useless. Shenshoo started out up the 
trail. From behind a rock right in front of 
him came a flash of fire. His ears rang with 
the sound of a rifle only a few feet away. He 
swerved and rushed off the trail, crashing 
through the brush as fast as his frightened legs 
could carry him. Straight for the side of the 
hill he went and scrambled up through the 
tangled growth. He didn’t stop running until 
he had crossed the divide and was safely on 
the other side. 

The scent he got, as that last shot was fired, 
was the scent of man. It warned him that there 
was danger lurking in the poplar flat and he 
did not return. He waited across the hill many 
days for his mother but he never saw her again. 

Little did he know how narrow had been 


3 6 


SHENSHOO 


his own escape. The two shots had been fired 
by the trapper at Shenshoo, and it was only 
through poor shooting that his mother had 
been shot and his life saved. 






CHAPTER V 


SHENSHOO GROWS HIS FIRST 
HORNS 



meadow where he and his mother had spent 
most of the spring and summer. Other moose 
were gathering there for the winter and the 
young orphan joined them. 

When spring came a queer lump began to 
form on the top of Shenshoo’s head. It was 
a dark, mushroom-like growth, and it grew 
noticeably bigger each day. He didn’t know 
that a great vein in his neck was carrying a 
supply of lime to his head, and that this lump 
was the beginning of a pair of horns. 

By July the new horns had taken a rather 
definite shape, and by August had become 
quite hard. They were still covered, however, 
with a dark velvety skin. About the middle of 
August they began itching terribly, and were 



37 


38 


SHENSHOO 


a constant annoyance. Shenshoo found relief 
by rubbing them against branches of trees. 
This he did constantly, with the result that 
the velvety covering was soon rubbed off, and 
the horns became bone-like and shiny. 

These horns of Shenshoo’s were not like 
those of any other animal. Instead of being 
round and pointed like those of domestic cattle, 
or branched like the horns of deer and elk, his 
were shaped more like a scoop, with a number 
of sharp prongs along the edges. 

With the acquiring of horns a new mood 
came over Shenshoo. He was no longer con¬ 
tent to remain in a fixed locality, but, like his 
mother during the previous fall, he began 
roaming over great areas. This constant exer¬ 
cise hardened the muscles of his legs and he 
became very strong. He was over five feet 
now at the shoulders and weighed five or six 
hundred pounds. His hair was a glossy black. 

One evening as he was feeding along the 
shores of a small lake, a call came to him across 
the water. It was a call such as his mother 
had made on the night she left him for the 


SHENSHOO GROWS HIS FIRST HORNS 


39 


rendezvous with the strange bull. It thrilled 
him with a keen desire to locate the owner. 
Lifting his head Shenshoo answered with a 
low “Oh-o-o-wah,” and then swam across the 
lake in the direction from which the tantalizing 
call had come. 

As he strode ashore on a sandy beach he 
heard the call again, this time from beneath a 
great Norway pine, a hundred yards down the 
shore. Answering, he started trotting towards 
the tree, and when quite near stood still and 
listened. He heard no sound, so he gave his 
call again, this time very low and scarcely 
audible. Instantly an answer came back from 
the woods, but instead of being one of invita¬ 
tion, it was a gruff “A-wah”—a challenge. 
Shenshoo’s hair rose along his shoulders, and 
up the back of his neck, and his throat rumbled 
defiance. Again came the challenging grunt, 
this time followed by a terrific crashing through 
the brush. Spurred on by a low whine from 
the cow, who had not yet shown herself, Shen¬ 
shoo dashed to meet his adversary—another 
bull also seeking the favors of the hidden cow. 





4° 


SHENSHOO 




The woods resounded with the impact as 
the antlers of the charging moose clashed 
together. Shenshoo was pushed to his knees 
by the force of the onslaught. He rose and 
charged again. The other bull stepped quickly 
aside and raked him mercilessly with his sharp 
horns as he lumbered by. Two long gashes 
were ripped in his side. “Hee-e-e-yuh,” came 
the whine of the cow, who was evidently an 
interested spectator at this battle of rivals. The 
sound goaded Shenshoo on. It also stimulated 
the ferocity of the other bull. Once more they 
came together. This time Shenshoo was 
pushed backwards by the superior weight of 
his adversary, and instead of charging again 
he retreated. Off through the still night he 
wandered, a very sore and defeated young 
moose, in whose ears the low whine of the 
cow, as she greeted the victor, still rang. 

During the next few weeks of the mating 
season Shenshoo heard many calls of female 
moose, but profiting by his first experience, 
he never approached the caller until he had 
reconnoitered carefully. And not until he was 


t——jrr m 








SHENSHOO GROWS HIS FIRST HORNS 41 

certain that no other hostile rival awaited him 
did he make his presence known. 

Early in January he had a humiliating 
experience. Traveling through a dense thicket, 
on the edge of a muskeg, one of his horns 
became entangled between two cedars. He 
wrenched to get it free, and to his dismay the 
horn broke off and fell to the ground. The 
unbalanced weight of the other horn pulled his 
head to one side and made walking difficult. 
He was not relieved until he butted this against 
a tree and broke it off too. 

The loss of his horns was depressing to 
Shenshoo, and for days he wandered about 
by himself, dejected and sullen, but with the 
coming of spring, the lump on his head started 
to grow again. The horns this time were 
larger than the pair he lost in the cedar swamp. 



CHAPTER VI 


SHENSHOO IS RIDDEN 

S INCE the day that his mother was shot 
Shenshoo had not smelled the odor of 
man. However, he didn’t forget it. Late in 
July, in his fourth year, he was swimming a 
wide lake when the scent that he feared came 
to him once again. He was heading towards 
a sandy beach a mile away, but at the warning 
changed his direction and hurriedly swam for 
a near-by cove at the foot of a high cliff. 

As the scent became stronger he strained 
every muscle, urging his great body through 
the water with powerful heaves. Then he 
heard shouting. He turned his head and was 
startled to see three canoes bearing down upon 
him, the nearest one less than fifty yards away. 

Swimming at a pace that he had never 
attained before, Shenshoo reached the shore a 
brief instant ahead of the first canoe, and 


42 



SHENSHOO IS RIDDEN 


43 


plunged into a fringe of willows which bor¬ 
dered the lake. After crashing through the 
brush for a few yards he was dismayed to find 
his progress checked by a steep wall of rock 
which he was unable to climb. He rushed 
frantically about trying to find a way out, but 
in vain. The wall hemmed him in, and his 
only means of retreat lay over a sloping slide 
of loose boulders on one side of the cove. 
Going back the way he had come was out of 
the question, because the boys had landed. 
Not having seen Shenshoo climb the cliff, they 
were noisily searching for him in the willows. 

He hesitated on the edge of the slide, fearful 
of stepping out into the open. A loud yell told 
him that he had been discovered, so overcoming 
his fear he began picking his way across the 
rocky slide. He could see the boys following 
him in canoes below. 

The noise of their yelling, and the strong 
odor of man, made Shenshoo nervous. He 
tried running when he came to a large smooth 
sloping rock, but his feet slipped and he fell 
heavily on his side, and began sliding down 


44 


SHENSHOO 


towards the lake. It looked for a moment as 
though he were going to land right in one of 
the canoes. A stump of pine stopped the 
descent of Shenshoo just before his huge body 
could hit the water. Realizing that he couldn’t 
climb the cliff, he regained his feet and entered 
the water to swim around the point to a better 
landing place. The canoes came between him 
and the shore and forced him out into the lake 
once again. 

With one canoe behind him, and one on 
either side Shenshoo was in a very effective 
floating corral. The canoe on the right pushed 
up close to him, and he felt a tug on the long 
hair on his back. Inhaling deeply he dove 
under the canoe, coming up on the other side. 
For a moment he thought he was free, but the 
canoes were soon beside him again, and once 
more his case seemed hopeless. He was getting 
tired, and his breath came in short, noisy gasps. 

Then he heard a yell, and saw the boy in 
the canoe nearest him stand up, pause for an 
instant, and then leap. Shenshoo was pushed 
under the water as a heavy body landed 





The canoes came between him and the shore and 
forced him out into the la\e once again 


45 














































































































I 









SHENSHOO IS RIDDEN 


47 


squarely upon his back. He came up gasping 
for air. Flinging his head from side to side he 
attempted to dislodge his terrifying load, but 
the boy hung on. Shenshoo felt him creeping 
along toward his head, then in his ear came a 
deafening sound, as the boy shouted. The 
noise of it drove the moose frantic, and again 
he dove. Down, down, down he went till his 
feet touched the bottom. He felt the boy sink 
with him at first, but as he went deeper the 
grip on his hair relaxed, and the moose rose 
to the surface free of his passenger who was 
floundering about in the water some yards 
behind him. 

The canoe went back to rescue the boy, and 
Shenshoo headed for shore. There was a brief 
chase, but the moose had too great a start, and 
making the most of it he scrambled ashore. 
As he entered the forest he stumbled and fell, 
weak from exhaustion, but getting to his feet 
he wobbled off and soon his strength returned. 
Then for hours he kept pushing on in a 
direction away from that lake and the hated 
smell of man. 










CHAPTER VII 


A STRANGE CALL 

S HORTLY after the swimming episode, 
Shenshoo made friends with another bull 
about his own age. It was a rather novel 
companionship. The two friends were content 
if they were within sight of each other. They 
seldom communicated. In the evening, along 
toward dusk, when they were feeding, one of 
them would walk out into a bay, eat some lily 
roots, and then leisurely splash his way back 
to shore. Shortly afterwards the other bull 
would come out and go through the same 
motions. If one animal swam across a lake, 
in a few minutes the other one would be swim¬ 
ming in his wake. 

This companionship lasted for over a month, 
and then one evening in September it came 
to an abrupt end. 

It was soon after the first frost. Shenshoo 








A STRANGE CALL 


49 


and his friend were some yards apart browsing 
along a shore when they heard the low whining 
of a cow seeking a mate. Both of them started 
in the direction from which the call had come. 
When it came again, Shenshoo turned and 
glared at the bull who had been his friend. 
The hair on both of their backs arose, and in 
each throat sounded a challenging grunt. 
Forgetful of past friendship they rushed to¬ 
gether like enemies. Two and three times they 
collided head on. 

Then Shenshoo remembered the trick he 
had learned in his first fight. Grunting a chal¬ 
lenge he lowered his antlers, and the other bull 
came right at him. Shenshoo stepped aside, 
and as his adversary charged by, he gored him 
in the side. The prongs of his horns went right 
in, and so vicious was his lunge that the other 
bull, caught off balance, fell. Twice Shenshoo 
gored him before he got up. It was a badly 
beaten bull who staggered off into the woods 
leaving Shenshoo champion. 

Uttering another challenge he went to look 
for the cow, who had been silently watching 


50 


SHENSH00 


the battle for her favors from a secure hiding 
place. Acknowledging Shenshoo as the victor 
the cow now came towards him, and by a series 
of low whines and grunts, let him know that 
through his prowess he had won her. 

After a week spent with his newly found 
mate, Shenshoo began to tire of her company. 
His ears were again alert to the sounds of other 
cows calling. Each time that he attempted to 
answer them, however, his mate would whine 
his affections back to her. 

One day an unusually enticing call came. 
Shenshoo was standing in a grove of pine when 
he first heard it. His mate had wandered off 
some distance to feed. He waited till the call 
came again and then started out to investigate. 
He was not the clumsy young bull now, crash¬ 
ing through the woods in the direction of the 
call, but an older one much wiser. This time 
he approached silently, traveling through the 
woods without making a sound. Testing each 
bit of ground before putting his weight down, 
he proceeded slowly and as noiselessly as a 
shadow. For periods of minutes he stood 


A STRANGE CALL 


5i 


perfectly still, listening. The call was often 
repeated, as he gradually worked his way 
nearer. He thought it came from a dense 
clump of woods across a little clearing, and he 
waited on the edge of that clearing before 
crossing it. 

The call of the cow was then followed by 
the bleat of a calf, but still Shenshoo remained 
hidden. Then came the challenge of another 
bull, this too from across the clearing. Shen¬ 
shoo answered with a low “Wau-wau-wau.” 
Again the cow whined and Shenshoo waited 
for the challenge of the bull. It came, but not 
as a challenge, instead it was in a pleading tone 
—a bull coaxing a cow to desist from calling 
another mate. This was a new experience to 
Shenshoo. Instead of crossing the clearing, he 
began circling it, still keeping in the shadow 
of the woods. 

When almost around, a gust of wind brought 
to him the scent of man. He was all in 
a panic as once more he smelled the dreaded 
odor. Throwing his antlers back on his shoul¬ 
ders he dashed off into the woods. As he 


52 


SHENSHOO 


wheeled his body showed for an instant at the 
edge of the clearing, and at that instant came 
the report of a rifle. 

A burning pain stung Shenshoo in his hind 
leg. Twice more shots sounded, but he raced 
on untouched by any but the first one. He 
galloped through the woods for miles, and then 
began to tire from loss of blood. Pushing his 
way into a secluded swamp he lay down to rest. 
Next morning his leg was so stiff and sore he 
could hardly get up. For weeks he cruised in 
the cover of the swamp, fearful of leaving it, 
and gradually his wound healed. 

The danger from which he had so narrowly 
escaped was a new one for him. His enemy, 
man, through the skillful use of a birch bark 
trumpet, could imitate the call of a cow moose 
seeking a mate, and then with a rifle await 
the approach of the eager bull. 

Shenshoo’s nose alone could save him from 
this new danger, and never afterwards did he 
approach a calling cow until he had first circled 
her hiding place silently, and sniffed the air 
for the tell-tale scent. 



CHAPTER VIII 


THE WINTER OF LITTLE SNOW 

S HENSHOO was now a magnificent crea¬ 
ture, standing over six feet high at the 
shoulders. His antlers, which continued to 
drop off every year, and grow bigger as they 
came in again were enormous now. They 
measured six feet across and weighed eighty 
pounds. His great size and ability as a fighter 
made him fearless of all animals. He still, 
however, was afraid of man. 

Long life in the north woods comes only to 
those animals who carefully protect themselves 
from danger. As the years passed Shenshoo 
became cautious in many ways. One peculiar 
procedure he always followed before bedding 
down for the night. First he passed the place 
where he intended to stop, walking into the 
wind. A quarter of a mile away he circled 
and made a parallel trail and returned to lie 


S3 


54 


SHENSHOO 


down a hundred yards or more from the trail 
he had first made. If he were being followed, 
he could in this way see his enemy passing 
along the first trail in plenty of time to be up 
and away. His big ears were constantly alert 
to pick up the faintest sound, and with each 
breath his wide nostrils sampled the air for 
alien scents. 

Then came the cold winter of little snow. 
Many of the smaller animals and birds suffered 
as the temperature went down, and no snow 
came to protect them. The partridges, which 
depend upon burrowing into the snow for 
relief from the cold, froze to death in the wind 
swept woods. 

The wolves were plentiful that year and they 
had a hard time getting food. The deer, not 
hindered now by the deep drifts, were able to 
out-run the hunting packs. The wolves’ only 
chance for food lay in overtaking some unfor¬ 
tunate animal while he was crossing a lake on 
the glare ice. Their padded paws provided a 
much surer footing on the slippery ice than the 
hard hoofs of deer and moose. 


THE WINTER OF LITTLE SNOW 


55 


One cold afternoon in December, Shenshoo 
slowly felt his way across a wide expanse of 
shining ice. He wanted to browse on a chain 
of small islands far out in the lake. His 
progress was being anxiously watched by a pack 
of timber wolves on the shore. He crossed the 
dangerous ice safely, fed across the first island, 
and was crossing to the next, when the ice, 
weakened by the current flowing between the 
two islands, gave way under his great weight, 
and he found himself struggling about in the 
freezing water. 

His plight was at once seen by the wolves, 
and they hastened out to the struggling moose. 

Putting his fore feet up on the edge of the 
hole Shenshoo tried climbing out, but the ice 
was too thin, and broke away each time he put 
his weight on it. 

The wolves gathered in a circle about the 
floundering moose. He glared at them, tossing 
his head, but they knew he was harmless, and 
they snarled and snapped at his feet as he lifted 
them out on the ice. The wolves were sure 
of a meal. 





56 


SHENSHOO 


But luck was with Shenshoo. As he thrashed 
around, his big hoofs struck a shoal of rock 
running between the two islands. He followed 
this shoal, breaking a path through the ice, and 
climbed out on the island. As his huge body 
arose out of the water the wolves slunk back. 

He was very tired and the exertion in the icy 
water had sapped his strength. But instead of 
waiting on the island until he was rested, he 
foolishly started across the ice towards the 
mainland. As he stepped out on the slippery 
surface the pack of wolves rushed him. He 
turned to charge them but his feet slipped and 
down he crashed on the ice with a thud that 
reverberated around the lake. 

The wolves were upon him in an instant, 
all of them trying to sink their fangs into the 
violently kicking legs of the helpless moose. 
One of the broad hoofs of Shenshoo caught a 
big wolf squarely in the side and crushed in 
his ribs. The starving animals began devour¬ 
ing their wounded companion, and Shenshoo 
was able to get up. 

By keeping his head down, and kicking out 


THE WINTER OF LITTLE SNOW 


57 


at the pack when they got too close to his heels 
he was able to make his way safely to shore, 
and as soon as he entered the forest the wolves 
left him. 



I » 




CHAPTER IX 


SHENSHOO’S LAST ADVENTURE 

J OE NATAWAY’S father, an Ojibway 
chief, was famed for his skill in tracking 
animals, and as soon as Joe had been able to 
walk, his training had started. All his life he 
had been in the woods, and now, as an old man, 
he was rated as the best hunter and guide in 
his part of the country. 

He had the enviable reputation of being the 
only man who had ever been clever enough to 
approach a sleeping moose, and slap him on 
the back before he awoke. 

Nataway had often seen Shenshoo’s tracks, 
and once in the spring, when the Indian was 
returning from his trapping grounds, he caught 
a glimpse of the big bull feeding along the 
shore of Manitou lake. It was from Nataway 
that Walter Brooks first heard of Shenshoo. 
Walter Brooks was a naturalist. His time 


58 


SHENSHOO’S LAST ADVENTURE 


59 


was spent collecting and mounting animals for 
a museum in one of the large midwestern 
cities. He had been commissioned to secure a 
bull moose to complete a group of these animals 
in the Hall of Mammals in his museum. 
Hearing of Joe Nataway’s ability, he hired him 
as guide for the party that started out to get 
the moose. He took two other guides along to 
help with the paddling, and also to carry the 
loads across the portages, because Manitou was 
one of those remote lakes, reached only by 
canoe in the summer, and by dog sled and snow 
shoe in the winter. 

Shenshoo had been feeding on Manitou, but 
when the party made the portage into the lake, 
he had gotten their wind, and by the time that 
their camp was set up he was ten miles away 
and heading north. The next day Joe picked 
up his tracks, but after following them for 
some miles, and noting their direction, he 
decided that the moose had been warned of his 
danger, and that the wise old animal had 
changed his feeding grounds. 

Camp was moved fifteen miles farther north 


6o 


SHENSHOO 


to a little lake without a name. That night 
it began to snow—those large soft flakes 
which announce the coming of winter in the 
north. By morning the already frozen ground 
was covered to a depth of three inches. It was 
an ideal tracking snow, and Nataway took ad¬ 
vantage of it. 

Leaving the guides in camp he filled a pack- 
sack with two days’ provisions, and then he 
and Brooks started out, each carrying a rifle. 
Knowing the direction in which Shenshoo had 
gone, Joe was sure that with the coming of 
snow the moose would head for the shelter 
of a very remote swamp fifteen miles across 
country from the lake where they were camped. 
And he was right. 

Shenshoo had been going straight north 
since he had the warning scent of the hunters 
on Manitou lake. He had been facing a strong 
wind, and had not again smelled the odor of 
man. When the snow storm began, he did 
just what Nataway thought he would do. He 
headed for the shelter of the big swamp. This 
swamp was many miles in area, and furnished 








SHENSHOO’S LAST ADVENTURE 61 

excellent browsing as well as protection from 
the weather. Shenshoo entered it from the 
south, circling around the base of a high rock 
hill which formed the southern boundary of 
the swamp. 

Nataway and Brooks arrived at the base of 
the hill at noon, but instead of circling it as 
the moose had done, and entering the swamp, 
the men climbed straight up the rough sides 
and when near the top made camp in the 
shelter of an overhanging ledge. For water 
they scraped up some snow and melted it in 
their tea pail. 

All that night the wind blew from the 
northeast. 

About midnight Nataway aroused Brooks, 
and gave him a pot of hot tea to drink. Then, 
after carefully extinguishing the fire, he led 
the way toward the summit. Brooks marveled 
at the skill with which the Indian led him 
through the darkness. Up, and over the top 
they went, the cold wind chilling them as they 
began the decent. Joe whispered to be as care¬ 
ful as possible, and very slowly they climbed 


62 


SHENSHOO 


down. After a hundred yards of picking their 
way they came to a large flat rock. Had they 
stepped over the edge in the darkness they 
would have fallen many feet and been killed 
on the rocks below. This flat rock was the 
roof of a cave set in the hillside. Working 
their way around the side of it, they crawled 
into the shelter to wait for daylight. 

After what seemed hours of waiting the sky 
began to grow lighter in the northeast, and 
soon Brooks could make out the surrounding 
country. Sitting in the mouth of the cave he 
could see out over the wide expanse of the 
swamp. The wind still blowing from the 
northeast came across the swamp before 
reaching the men, and did not carry their odor 
to the animals sleeping in the tangled thickets 
below them. 

As soon as it was light enough, Brooks took 
his binoculars out of their case, and through 
their high powered lenses scanned every foot 
of the swamp. Once his hands twitched as he 
saw a black body moving across the range of 
his vision. He reached for the rifle at his side, 


SHENSHOO’S LAST ADVENTURE 63 


and adjusted the sights, but he discovered, 
when he looked again, that what he saw was 
a cow moose, and near her a half grown calf. 
The group at the museum already had a cow 
and calf—he was interested only in securing 
a bull. 

For an hour or more he strained his eyes, the 
glasses sweeping back and forth. Joe Nata- 
way had been looking too, but not through 
glasses. He peered out with his left hand shad¬ 
ing his eyes from the sun, which had now risen 
and was shining directly into the cave. Sud¬ 
denly the old Indian reached out and touched 
Brooks on the shoulder. Then he pointed to 
a spot almost directly below them. Brooks 
focused the glasses on it for a moment, quickly 
handed them to the guide, and reached for 
his rifle. He pressed the butt against his 
shoulder, and sighted along the blued steel 
barrel. The first finger of his right hand was 
bent over the trigger. 

Shenshoo, the night before, had, as was his 
custom, carefully circled the swamp before ly¬ 
ing down to sleep at the base of the cliff. The 


6 4 


SHENSHOO 


wind blowing from the north would bring him 
the scent of an enemy who might be stalking 
him unseen. Behind him was the rocky cliff. 
No danger could assail him from that direction, 
he thought. 

As the rays of the sun shone in his eyes, he 
arose from his steaming bed to begin the day’s 
feeding. The patch of grass upon which he 
had spent the night was mashed down as 
though a steam roller had passed over it. The 
snow had been melted away by the heat of his 
body. He was a little stiff from the rest, and 
as he got up he stood for a moment stretching 
one of his legs out behind him. 

A pebble rolled from the mouth of the cave 
above him. It bounced against the side of the 
cliff and fell clattering through the limbs of a 
dead cedar. Alert at the sound, he turned his 
great head quickly to discover the cause, and 
looked up towards the cave. At that instant, 
Brooks’ finger pressed the trigger, and Shen- 
shoo dropped lifeless, struck by a bullet just 
behind the ear. 




































